Meet Romeo!

[Juliebrei]

Hello!
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ch470e5gwjtrm9d/IMG_20160728_212327.jpg?dl=0
My name is Romeo, I'm a black syrian. I'm still just a baby, I am 2 months old today! :-)
I loooooove my pyramid,
https://www.dropbox.com/s/uw4v0pynhquv059/IMG_20160816_122650.jpg?dl=0
but mum took it :-( she didn't like it when I started getting stuck in there on my back. Doesn't she realize I'm just trying to stay little and cute?
https://www.dropbox.com/s/8dqce7qd0kojdn8/IMG_20160728_164503.jpg?dl=0
Sometimes I like to tease mum. make her think i'm going to break my neck in a minute
https://www.dropbox.com/s/jvsxhbu84xk79jd/IMG_20160805_183541.jpg?dl=0https://www.dropbox.com/s/58f0gzlc9f7fx6v/IMG_20160802_135029.jpg?dl=0
or take stroll outside the cage, even though I should be far too small to out of anything. she didn't like that!
https://www.dropbox.com/s/2elaes7g0ncrwh0/IMG_20160826_035702.jpg?dl=0
Now she made my room a lot darker..
https://www.dropbox.com/s/es95aykbdd42avf/IMG_20160828_002634.jpg?dl=0
I still really wanna go for another stroll
https://www.dropbox.com/s/0apo0q3zbqe0et4/IMG_20160826_035229.jpg?dl=0
mum still won't let me, but I am Romeo so she can't be mad at me when I hold her hand
https://www.dropbox.com/s/aqyju888nd4n8iv/IMG_20160823_222240.jpg?dl=0
All this cuteness is getting me tired.. better take a nap.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/rsddksqm93dayt0/IMG_20160812_022248.jpg?dl=0

[Juliebrei]

Just in case the links won't open ;-)

(He is in the detolf now, the other cages were temporary)

[MeganAndMisty]

Oh my gosh what a gorgeous boy! He's so adorable and tiny, he kind of looks like a baby bear haha. He definitely suits his name :) Also what a lucky ham to have such a nice big cage.

[Juliebrei]

Oh my gosh what a gorgeous boy! He's so adorable and tiny, he kind of looks like a baby bear haha. He definitely suits his name :) Also what a lucky ham to have such a nice big cage.

He is so tiny :-) we have a dwarf too, she's white by the way;-) and he is just barely bigger than her now :-)

[Thin Lizzy]

Eek! Romeo is so tiny, perfect and blooming gorgeous!
I love your detolf.

[Juliebrei]

He really is perfect. He is shy but thats it… no biting no scratching no attitude. And to think he was rescued from market where he was displayed in a little box with 30 other hamsters and no food or water! The couple who rescued him, rescued 5 of his brothers and sisters and gave them away for next to nothing, as long as they found a loving family. He was just 4 weeks old when we got him. He was smaller than a dwarf back then.

[Thin Lizzy]

Hearing about how he was rescued by a couple and then you adopting him made me go Aww! Romeo has found his forever home with you.
I hope the other hamsters got rescued.

[Juliebrei]

I know the couple reported them, so at the very least they should hopefully be at a shelter of some sort

[Thin Lizzy]

Glad to hear he was reported. People like that really peeve me off.

[Juliebrei]

Hopefully they got what they deserved ;-)

[cypher]

How did I miss this?!
Hello Romeo :)

What a lovely little guy.

[Juliebrei]

Yeah, he is not something you would want to miss ;-)
His sister zeldas introduction is coming up soon ;-)

[Vectis Hamstery]

Please stay on topic on this thread and join in welcoming Romeo to Hamster Central; off topic comments have been removed.

Romeo is a real cutie and lucky to have found a loving home after his difficult start :)

[GhostsInSnow]

What a gorgeous boy! He's very lucky to have found such a lovely home with someone who is determined to spoil him as he deserves :D

[Juliebrei]

Thank you so much :-) and spoiled is absolutely right! He has been missing a house since I most rudely took his pyramid ;-) I bought him a gaming coconut, that most certainly wasn't good enough for him apparently. So now we're going all out and buying him an estate
http://dyrenesnetsalg.dk/product-images/13/33/1/TX60774.jpg
If that isn't good then tough… he'll just keep sleeping on the ground then (which doesn't bother him at all :-/)

[pinkneon]

Awwwww he is so tiny and cute! I love that photo of him all curled up asleep!

[Juliebrei]

That was really cute! :-) he yawns and stretches his way out of bed most nights too :-D

[badwolf]

Awwwwww :) I do have a soft spot for the black ones <3 I would have taken all of those hamsters lol!

[Juliebrei]

[-o&lt;The sweetest little tired boy with his ears not even up yet came out for a sunflower seed

[Aggie]

Yeah he os soooo cute, and is the mostest cutest when he stretches and yawns, looks soooo cute!

btw im the boyfriend, come look at my Zelda if you want to. just click on my profile and check my post.

[Juliebrei]

Clean cage and new toys :-)

[Juliebrei]

I've been uploading videos of the little charmer :-)
more to come ;-)

https://youtu.be/26hALzxKru8

[Juliebrei]

https://youtu.be/qolcqoj2g0k

[pinkneon]

They don't seem to work? Or at least they don't work for me :(
You could try posting the link to the video for us to see maybe?

[Juliebrei]

yeah, i can't get them to work.. is there something special youre supposed to do with youtube videos to get them to work?
I included links now though, so at least you can go there manually ;-)

[pinkneon]

Awwwwww! So cute and SO tiny!
I think most people just post the link :)

[Juliebrei]

Thanks :-)
Most of the videos are from just after i got him, so he's not much more than 4 weeks in the videos :-D

[pinkneon]

I loved how he ignored the treat, and then at the end when he fitted right inside the food bowl!!

[Juliebrei]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=781h2zA0Fqk

the famous stretching :-)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfD1jfvjqvs

and yawning :-)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=js7N_PF9DDQ

[Juliebrei]

he's pretty picky about treats actually. and he definitely doesn't fit in that bowl anymore, but it's so sweet how he carefuly tucks his tail up on the way in ;-)

[badwolf]

Ahhhh just watched the vids :) I wanna steal him!!! <3

[Juliebrei]

you might not want to once you hear how he just tripped on his wheel and spun around three times.. scared me half to death :-(

[badwolf]

Oh the poor wee dafty lol. Nah I still wanna steal him :P

[Juliebrei]

Have a laugh ;-)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkcKYuyG4lU
Hint: it's a salat leaf, he stuck in in one piece, silly boy :-D

[Juliebrei]

Oh the poor wee dafty lol. Nah I still wanna steal him :P

somehow i don't think you're gonna come all the way to little Denmark to steal him :-P
plus if you got him there would be language barrier between you:mad:

[Juliebrei]

Just went to check on them before going to bed. Romeo is sleeping in his sand bath, zelda is sleeping on top of the substrate in her digging box… just a typical night…:-k

[pinkneon]

somehow i don't think you're gonna come all the way to little Denmark to steal him :-P
plus if you got him there would be language barrier between you:mad:

I'd come to Denmark just to steal him! And I have a friend who lives there who can translate :mad:

[Thin Lizzy]

Lol! Pinkneon, what are you like? I might get there first!
He's an absolute heart melter!

[Juliebrei]

Lol… zelda will defend him! She's a biter ;-)

[Juliebrei]

Romeo is being very frustrating today. I just cleaned his cage yesterday, reorganized everything so he has his food and water and sand near the corner where tends to sleep. I put a coconut house in the corner where he sleeps and where is he now? In the complete opposite end of the cage, behind his wheel, where there is practically no substrate#-o](*,)

[pinkneon]

Haha Sweep does that! Though Romeo might be a little unsure if you did a full clean maybe?

[Juliebrei]

I sprinkled some old bedding in the cage before putting him in. I thinks he's just mad that I put a coconut in the way of his old "hole" ;-) his estate arrives in a couple of days anyway so I'm thinking just let him for now. I'll try harder to get him in his new house. I bought him a willow tube yesterday and he seems to like that so maybe I'll try the trick with putting that in front of his new house;-)

[Juliebrei]

But it is the first time I've done a full clean on him now that I think about it.

[badwolf]

somehow i don't think you're gonna come all the way to little Denmark to steal him :-P
plus if you got him there would be language barrier between you:mad:

Haha, yeah, I am terrified of flying. So you can relax! :P

[Juliebrei]

So… this happened… he emptied the entire content of his cheeks into the crack between the couch cushions! Do I just clean it up and tough luck for him or should I give it back to him?
He is a fussy eater and has currently eaten everything else in his bowl except for the animal protein. So I'm thinking tough luck.
By the way, I found this in his mix. Can anyone tell me what it is and if it's something to worry about? I'm thinking it looks like those strands attached to pumpkin seeds?

[cypher]

They do sometimes depouch when out of the cage, I would just chuck it & give him some fresh food now it's been down the back of the couch!

That looks a bit like web in your photo of the food, is that what it looks like to you? There is a small moth that can get into food & lay eggs, a web like substance in the bag is usually a sign of that.
If it is that you need to freeze all the food you have to kill it & remove all the food that may potentially have eggs in from the cage.

[Nancy's Hamsters]

That stringy stuff is the web of a moth larva. Romeo will love the extra protein if he gobbles the larva, but I would suggest freezing any seed food you have as if the larva hatches into the moth they are a real pain to get rid of in your house. Ask Serendipity about their battle royal with these moths. The food is actually fine as the presence of these moths shows your food is very fresh. Freezing the food will kill any larva so no need to toss the food if you can freeze it for a day or two.

[Juliebrei]

I emptied his bowl straight away, he was only slowly being changed over to that food so he just went straight back to the old while I figured out what it was. All his food has promptly been thrown in the freezer and in a few days I will start giving it to him again :-)

[Pebbles82]

Yup! Still finding the odd one now and some larva in the monopoly money last night ugh. I now stick all dried hamster food in the freezer for a week, then keep it in a lock and lock box afterwards (if anything survived the freezer and hatches in the lock and lock box it's trapped in there and I can see it)!

It just looks like a bit of thread to me, but my eyesight isn't great. Could he have chewed something off the sofa? It's maybe why he spat it out anyway lol.

Yes they can get a bit freaked by a cage clean and things moving into different places and decamp and nest somewhere else. The tube sounds like a good idea. If he's in the detolf now probably best not to clean anything or move things round for a couple of weeks until he's settled. Just caught up on the videos - he looked so tiny when you got him!

[Juliebrei]

He's driving me crazy! This tough love thing is not working! He is through his stash, has been for a whole day now and the dried shrimp are still just laying there… he started tearing in to his toothbrush, which I then took, he rejected the biscrock bone in favor of a generic dog biscuit with practically no protein in. I can't feed him fresh protein every night… he needs his protein, especially at his age, but how do I get it in him? ](*,)

[AmityvilleHams]

You could try baby food,as long as you're careful with the ingredients.While it wouldn't have the benefits of wearing down teeth,it does give protein!

[Juliebrei]

And by the way I shot the cutest video of him washing himself on the sofa, but you'll never get to see it because my stupid phone ran too low on power! Stupid stupid day!

[Juliebrei]

You could try baby food,as long as you're careful with the ingredients.While it wouldn't have the benefits of wearing down teeth,it does give protein!

I might need to look into that if this continues.

[Pebbles82]

The best way to get protein in is to give high protein extras. I used to hide little extras in the cage for Charlie to find. Half a brazil nut (high protein and something in that's good for their immune systems), a small piece of cheddar cheese. I'd give half a brazil nut once a week, half a walnut once a week, cheese once a week, a monkey nut (peanut in shell) once a week. You can also supplement with a bit of scrambled egg on a teaspoon. They tend to love fresh food - but maybe not shrimps or mealworms - hams can be picky! Mealworms are also good protein though. I'm not sure I'd give baby food for protein, there's not much bulk or calories to it and mainly for hams who can't chew well or are older or ailing. Maybe find some chews he likes to wear his teeth down. Some of the treat sticks with food stuck onto wood go down well.

[Juliebrei]

So maybe it's good that I accidentally bought a mix without animal protein? I thought they needed that?

[AmityvilleHams]

They do need animal protein,but you can just add items to it.A lot of mixes with animal protein in them have poor sources or other added ingredients which aren't good,so it can be better to use a higher quality animal protein free mix.

[Juliebrei]

My parents grow their own walnuts, so we have like a kilo or something just laying around :-) but I thought shouldn't get more than a walnut a month? Serendipity, do you think you could help me work out a weekly schedule?
By the way, Romeo thanks you for convincing his mummy that he is the most stubbornnesstest:mad:
I just took him up into a hand filled with food ;-)

[Juliebrei]

This is by far the cutest picture ever! Maybe except for him having poo out his behind, which is a habit he has adapted lately… does it say anything about his intestine or something, that I should know?
It's a tiny piece of ground beef, it looks much greasier than it is, because of the light ;-)

[badwolf]

I think I just died from cute. Black hams <3

[Juliebrei]

I think I just died from cute. Black hams <3

There's a video too ;-) to come at a later date :-P

[Juliebrei]

And… he used 15 minutes, roughly, earlier just sleeping in my hand, and… when he woke up a bit I stroked him back to sleep!
Couldn't take pictures without ruining it though.

[badwolf]

My heart totally melted there <3

[Juliebrei]

Hi hi. I love your comments, badwolf! They always make me smile :-)

[badwolf]

I'm just so smitten with black hams <3 Cannot for the life of me understand why black animals are overlooked so often. I love all of them!

[Juliebrei]

I know! :-) but I must say that it is actually the white parts that gets me, or maybe it's just the contrast… either way, I love it :-D

[Thin Lizzy]

That pic is so damn cute, what a little poser.

[Juliebrei]

Apparently, the trick with him is to take him up just before he wakes. Of course this only works if you've gained his trust first, which I am the only one who has so far ;-)

[Juliebrei]

He did it again :-) this time I got pictures… brace yourself, badwolf :-P

He isn't sleeping this time though, but he sat there for 5 minutes :-)

[badwolf]

Eeeeeeeeeeee!!! :D Aww hello, Romeo! <3

[LisaMichelle]

He's so cute!!!

[Juliebrei]

yesterday he decided to prove that he could still fit inside his pyramid, which he can, but each time he moves, the pyramid moves ;-P

https://youtu.be/wAkf3nf2Cvk

warning, long video.

[badwolf]

Aw man, if there was a Romeo TV show I would totally watch it. He's so cute!!!!!!!!!!!

[Juliebrei]

Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if I had chosen one of his brown brothers… I think I would have regretted it.
He is becoming more and more fotogenic, It seems like he is slowing down a lot lately. Normally he would try to be anywhere but near us if we took him out. And he would do nothing but run all of his awake time. Now, I haven't seen him the wheel for about a week. I'm sure he runs, just not all the time now.

[pinkneon]

It could be the change in weather maybe? But he is soooooooo cute! Am coming to steal him!!

[Juliebrei]

You're welcome to come meet him, but I promise you, he will not just stay in your pocket ;-) he still tries to run from my boyfriend.
You might be right about the weather.

[Juliebrei]

And just think about it… he's only half the size of sweep ;-)

[pinkneon]

Woohoo! Plenty of room for him then!! ;)

[Juliebrei]

He weighed in at 90 g. Just about a week ago. At 3 months old. Not really sure how much he is supposed to weigh.
What did sweep weigh then? If you remember.

[pinkneon]

I didn't weigh Sweep at 3 months old as I'd only had him a month and he wasn't tame :)

[Juliebrei]

Romeo goes in to the cup head first, then when I turn the cup he realizes his mistake and crawls backwards up. only now, there's nowhere to go, so he stands with his paws spread across the edge of cup. He stands there for up to a minute, until he finally climbs back down, butt first :-D it's hilarious!
I had since 4 weeks, so he has had a lot more time to get used to it.

[pinkneon]

Awww so cute! Sweep will crawl into his tunnel and then go out backwards if he thinks I'm going to move it (like to get him out the cage LOL) ... The amout of times I've picked up an empty tube is unreal!

[Juliebrei]

Romeo used to do that. To an extend where it would become dangerous for him, it wouldn't matter how high up it got. But that was when he could still safely fit in toilet tubes. He doesn't even flinch when I pick him up in his willow tunnel now. Of course it helps that it is his most favorite place, maybe except for the pyramid ;-)

[Juliebrei]

I was just about to say that they're the same age actually, but it's the reversed dates. For me 3/9 2016 is 3. September. But here its March 9.… freaking confusing!

[Juliebrei]

Soooo… I took Romeo out for a sand bath today, which he really enjoys. After a while something startled him, causing him to take a lap around the side of his closed sand bath and totally freezing. I stroked him for a bit, with absolute no reaction. I then took him out on my hand, still no reaction. I let him sit in my hand for about 10 minutes, but I remembered seeing I video suggesting putting them in a blanket to help them relax and make it easier to bond, and I hat a blanket right beside me. So I gave it a try. I had to almost scoop him of my hand, if wasn't going nowhere on his own! So now his on the blanket, frozen… I thought to myself, being cuddled up and warm is kind of what he always does, so I kind of draped the blanket around him and within a minute his eyes started closing and fell asleep! And he just slept there, in my arms, wrapped in a blanket for half an hour. I love it! And it is the first time ever that he hasn't tried to get away if I try to stroke his head. He actually seemed to like it! I love it! That blanket is coming out much more!!!

And here you thought by the intro it was something, eh? ;-)
I couldn't get any good pictures of it. I'm not risking using the flash in a situation like that, so I got one of him in my hand and one which is not really much more than just colours, but the black dot is him and the red is the blanket ;-)

Sorry for the long post by the way.

[pinkneon]

Awww! My first hamster, Harry, would fall asleep on your arm as you stroked him. Have never had another hamster sleep on me though lol
Could you not leave the sand in the cage all the time?

[Juliebrei]

He doesn't seem to understand that your not supposed to try to breathe with your nose buried in the sand ;-)
He sneezes a lot more when he has his sand available, and sleeps there sometimes also… he loves his sand but he can't handle it ;-)

[badwolf]

Eeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!! :D <3

Lol

[Thin Lizzy]

He's so adorable, I feel an imminent hamnap coming on lol!

[badwolf]

I saw him first!!!!!

[Juliebrei]

I'm going to start uploading videos of both hamsters in the hamster video thread ;-) there's already two videos :-)

[Juliebrei]

I know that i am exposing romeo to multiple hamnappings now, but look what he just did!
at first i thought he was trying to escape over my shoulder, but once he got up there he just layed down and relaxed.. I could even stroke him with my cheek, and he didn't even flinch :-)
normally that would snap him right out of it.

after about 30 minutes he starting sliding down slowly, and the further down he came, the more he realized where he was and woke up...

but, man was he cute while it lasted!!!

[kja85]

Awww Romeo is cute. He looks really happy. :)

[Juliebrei]

I think he is finally starting to trust me, and since he is more relaxed also more happy. :-D

I see your hamster is black too :-) they are so sweet but so unfotogenic :-S
I always find that I can either just accept that he is impossible to take pictures of or bombard him with light to take just one good picture, and usually I choose to spare him ;-)

[kja85]

Hahaha yeah I cannot get a good picture of Oreo at all.

[Juliebrei]

I don't know about your phone, but with mine I can turn the light on with the camera instead of just the flash and that really helps. For one thing, its not as irritating for him and you don't have to guess if it's the right angle before you click the button ;-)

[kja85]

Thanks for the tip, I'll give that a try the next time I try to get a snap. :D

[Thin Lizzy]

Aww Romeo so trusts and adores you. Lovely pic.

[Juliebrei]

Romeo, the master thief strikes again!

I can't figure out how he snaps things out of our fingers so easily… he's so fast!

[LisaMichelle]

You have such a lovely bond with him! What a cutie!

[Juliebrei]

That's so interesting, that you say that. I think I still have a long long way to go still, before I gain his trust. I guess it is special with him only being 4 months, but I don't really have anything to compare with. Our ww hybrid pretty much arrived tame, partly because of her extremely attention seeking nature I think, so I tend to think that it has been a very long process with Romeo.
But maybe I'm wrong? I enjoy him a lot none the less :-D

[Thin Lizzy]

What an absolute cutie Romeo is, he looks so cheeky and pleased with himself in that pic.

[Juliebrei]

I really feel that was a glimpse of his personality caught on cam :-)

[pinkneon]

Awwwwwwwwwwwwww!! So, when can I have him?! ;)

[Thin Lizzy]

Absolutely! It's so nice seeing their personality and confidence grow.

[Juliebrei]

Did you see him chilling on my shoulder by the way pink? There are videos of him in the video thread too ;-)
And no you can not have him, but you can take a vacation in Denmark and come see him :-P

[Juliebrei]

So today it finally happened! What I've been waiting for since we brought Romeo home, the ultimate sign of trust; he washed himself while sitting on my arm!
That makes me so happy! :-) Romeo is everything I wanted…
We got him because I wanted a more laid back hamster, cuddly even, and we had read that a Syrian male was most likely to be that.
Today, three months later he is as cuddly as can be expected from a still not fully grown Syrian and he trusts me completely!

To not make this post completely cuddly, I wanted to try and see what would happen if I held him in front of my nose… now, zelda will automatically lick it, which is why I was curious… he did not lick it… he did however try to taste it, with his teeth #-o
That was a first and last…

[Juliebrei]

Look what he's doing! My shy little boy is all of a sudden climbing up my arm each time I put my hand in his cage.
https://youtu.be/ekF_eMxrSao

He even climbed on top of my hand and just sat there, when I was trying to spot clean a bit :-D
I have NEVER seen him behave like that before.
Do you think it's a permanent thing or just a sudden boost of confidence?

[Thin Lizzy]

Your little Romeo is growing in confidence, he obviously trusts you to do that and you should be feeling very proud of your progress. A wonderful bond.

[Juliebrei]

Romeo wanted to say hi! ;-)

[Hamsterita]

I'm so jealous right now!!! Lucky you!! He was so tiny when you adopted him and now he has grown so much...as his love and trust for you. I'm glad for you!

I'll stay tuned to see more of this cutie

[Juliebrei]

I don't think it is impossible for you to have a similar bond to blacky. It has taken me a long time and a lot of trial and error to get to this point. It is really only in the last couple of weeks that he has really started to relax and settle in properly. And I've had him for 3 months.
He is very timid and the rule with him has been only on his terms. For about a month I pretty much just offered him a sunflower seed whenever I walked by, if he took it, I opened my hand and he would sometimes climb on and sniff around to see if there is more. Another thing I do is I offer him his regular food in my hand first, before putting it in his bowl. He will sort through it for anything I likes and then I just put the rest in his bowl. I do this every time I fill it :-)
Hopefully there's some secret trick or something in there that can help you a bit? I hope so ;-)

[Juliebrei]

Here's proof that Romeo does not understand the functions of a house and I might as well just give up and let him do his nests ](*,)
https://youtu.be/x5PAl-kIRS0

[Hamsterita]

Here's proof that Romeo does not understand the functions of a house and I might as well just give up and let him do his nests ](*,)
https://youtu.be/x5PAl-kIRS0

Sometimes they can be so silly :mad:. Pls tell us how you make those houses=D&gt;

[Juliebrei]

A little bowl with something covering like a plastic bag for example, toilet paper or other tissue paper and a mix of 1 part flour and 2 parts water, and then just let it dry. Really really simple, but to make too many layers. Erin has some good videos on it;-)
You can also juice fruit and use it to paint with :-)

[Aisling and hamster]

Awww Romeo is so cute!

[Juliebrei]

Romeo and zelda has been alone for 24 hours for the first time this weekend. Romeo's cage looked the same way we left it, zelda's on the other hand… while Romeo had buried himself in a mountain of substrate as usual, zelda chose to bury under her house until it tilted and THEN bury it. Yet another example of just how different those two are :mad:

[Juliebrei]

I have had some minor problems with Romeo which is why I have been a bit silent. We got him a play pen and he does not like it! He spends the entire time biting the cars and on just the second day he figured out how to climb the vertical bars! Now that's all he does.

I have decided to start putting him in the ball again, and I know there is a lot of debate on that subject.
He does genuinely seem to love it. He will not just frantically run around, he will run to something and sniff and then run somewhere else and regularly will stop just to have a little wash. Maybe it's just me, but that does absolutely not seem like frightened behaviour to me.

There are now several holes in his little diy house :-({|=
And since the biscrock gravy bones where not good enough for Mr. Picky I bought an assorted pack with 3 different tastes and only 1 of those tastes where acceptable ](*,)

I also caught him trying to lick the hole bigger in the detolf. I don't know what they are coated with but some of it is in his system now, so once again I have to keep an eye on him #-o

[CMB]

A solid sided playpen may will be harder for a hamster to climb out of.

This is a good diy one.

https://youtu.be/3SKo0B_X8io

You could make it two panels high if needed or have extra panels to attach to make a kind of roof/over hang (just around the edge, so you can still see the hamster or even sit in with the hamster)

Cardboard etc can be used to make a playpen, but chewing could be a problem and also the hamster may be able to lift it up and escape.

[Juliebrei]

Doesn't matter. We already had a diy, he was just as focused on getting out. We have had 3 different diy cardboard pens. The only that worked, temporarily, was a small moving box. But that also only worked for a certain amount of time.

[Hamsterita]

Welcome to the club!!

Blacky and Romeo must be cousins or something. He's really picky too and he is the perfect runaway.

Don't worry about the biscrock biscuits, I recently opened a thread about them asking if all flavours where ham safe, and they are, but it seems that is pretty common that they only like one flavour. I'm still testing them with Blacky so, I don't know if he's going to like them or not. I tried the greenies with him and he wasn't very interested, I had to throw away one quarter of the brush because he had the greenie for about a month or so on his cage and he didn't eat it, it ended on the potty and I decided to throw it.

I think that he doesn't like the playpen. In there he's very still, like paralyzed, or trying to scape. The poor thing is always so scared. He also learnt how to scape in two days, and he knows several ways to get away. Climbing on the corners, or pushing the bars til the hooks fall apart. The problem is that he doesn't like the ball either. I tried to put him on it, but he was still all the time, and then he started to clean himself (apparently they also do this when they are nervous) and then he chew the holes. So... no ball for him either.

Try the bathtub. This worked better with Blacky for a while... but then he went back to go to one corner and stay there still. Now I'm trying with the bed. I still don't know if he's confortable or not, because he runs a lot from one place to the other, but it's on the only place where he climbs over me... so I don't know If he's extremely nervous or he's only playing... They are so difficult to understand sometimes

[Juliebrei]

I have no doubt that Romeo loves his ball. Usually the ball time does because he had to pee (haven't learned to predict it in the ball yet though).
I can predict it everywhere else because he kind of starts tripping from side to side but only with his rear end… it looks hilarious to be honest.
Anyways, when I put him back in his cage after ball time he tries frantically to get back out, so he definitely likes it.
He likes the toothbrush, but only when on one is looking ;-) and he sometimes sleep with his alligator.
The bathtub doesn't really work either. But I know the feeling of hope when something works only to be frustrated when he decides it doesn't work after all. Been there so many times.
It's chicken biscuits that works in general with him by the way ;-)

[Hamsterita]

Yep, If Romeo wants to go back to the ball every time you put him on his cage, he definitely must like the ball. Lucky you!!

I'm going to give him first the lamb and beef ones, because knowing him, if I give him "the good stuff" first, then he won't want the others, and he's very smart and he knows that with his cutie face he can get what he wants with a blink of an eye

[Juliebrei]

How big is your ball? Mine is very big and maybe that has an impact?
I tried the other biscuits first, but after he didn't touch it for a week… the only thing I have figure out to cheat him with yet is grounding up meal worms and putting them in porridge. That's the only thing he falls for. I even tried "starving" him to force him to eat all of his mix, he just ate his chew toys instead and when they ran out he didn't eat for 2 days before I had to give up … there's no tricking him! That was a very hard lesson for me. The stubborn little fool.
But we have to adjust to their behaviour ;-)

[Hamsterita]

Maybe the size it's the problem. Mine is 20 cm big, but the problem is that it's not completely rounded, it's more like an egg. Anyway it was very expensive (about 20 euros) and atm I'm not willing to spend 30 on a bigger one that he may not like either, right now I prefer to buy things for his cage. Maybe in the future I will try again with the ball

You had an excellent idea. I have to try to hide the his gammarus on the porridge or something.

[Juliebrei]

Romeos ball is 32 cm if you decide to try it in the future. Romeo has absolutely no clue when I do the porridge trick ;-)

[Thin Lizzy]

Bless little Romeo and his love of his ball.

[Juliebrei]

so... here it is. I caught the escape master in action :-S

https://youtu.be/NN0D3zAbzoo

[Penguin]

oh wow that's quite something! I would call it a talent more than anything :D

[Juliebrei]

he did it 2 times after that too.. just havent uploadet that video yet :-)
and mind you, that video was started the moment i put him in.. so it took him all of 3 minutes to decide he had enough now.

he is actually starting to warm up a bit to the playpen, it is with very mixed results as you can see ;-)

[Juliebrei]

so here it is. the rest of his playpen adventure.

https://youtu.be/wUzqAhOUOqM

it's a bit long. he decided to completely freeze up for quite a while and i had to pick him up, before he would snap out of it.
there's quite a lot of cuteness in there though ;-)

by the way, are all syrians that fast or is it just him? he has always seemed insanely fast to us. especially when you compare his size to zeldas, and her speed.

[AmityvilleHams]

Not sure about all Syrians,but I do know that mine is extremely fast when she wants to be!

[Juliebrei]

That's exactly how I feel! Sometimes he kind of creeps along my so slow, body completely down against my arm, and I just know he's gearing up for a boost!

[Hamsterita]

Blacky does the exact same thing on his playpen every time he's alone. When i'm on the playpen with him he behaves, but if i'm not that's the first thing he does.

And that's what I meant the other day with "runaways". Maybe is the wrong word, but I meant to say that they are the masters of the escape art ;)

[Juliebrei]

I tried taking romeo out on the bed today.. it was a disaster! he did nothing but dart for the edge at full speed constantly. he was frantic! he did not like that at all.. :-(

[Thin Lizzy]

Lol! at Romeo's attempted escape, what a little rascal but so adorable.

[Juliebrei]

He is so very adorable :-) it just makes me so sad when he panics like that, guess it might be the result of his troubled start on life.

[Hamsterita]

I hope Romeo is doing ok after the plastic incident

[Juliebrei]

he is still alive, so i think he made it through. but as if that wasnt enough, he started sniffling yesterday :-(
I put him in his travel cage with some warmers and a blanket around and he seemed ok later in the evening when i took him out, but i haven't checked on yet today.

[Thin Lizzy]

The warmers & blanket sound so cosy. Fingers crossed it's nothing serious.

[Juliebrei]

After he started biting the top bars of the travel cage I put him back in his own cage and he went bananas! He packed anything to get out, including my arm and my phone.

y8OAa_XAfws

There is another video with more light and a lot more cuteness, but it's still uploading.

Also, a picture of the warming set up.

[Juliebrei]

I cleaned their cages today, and usually i take romeo out. i always assumed that he would just be terrified of everything if i kept him in the cage.
i kept him in today and he seemed exstatic!

i got a little video, but he was kin dof done exploring by the time i got around to getting my phone instead of just enjoying him.

if i had had my phone with me you would have seen him sitting on the dustpan and keeping a lookout as if he owned it and it was his toy.. it was so cute!!!

AULtParRjDY

[Hamsterita]

I cleaned their cages today, and usually i take romeo out. i always assumed that he would just be terrified of everything if i kept him in the cage.
i kept him in today and he seemed exstatic!

i got a little video, but he was kin dof done exploring by the time i got around to getting my phone instead of just enjoying him.

if i had had my phone with me you would have seen him sitting on the dustpan and keeping a lookout as if he owned it and it was his toy.. it was so cute!!!

AULtParRjDY


awwwww he's so tiny and fast. he's really cute

you're very lucky, I would loooove to be able to clean the cage with Blacky inside. If I leave him alone outside his cage he's terrified, but if he's in his cage while I'm changing things he gets anxiety

I would love to have a detolf too, but I don't have enough room. I would love to see some photos of the set up once you end up cleaning the cage.

[Juliebrei]

Well that's easy ;-)

Included one of Zeldas cage too :-)

Romeo doesn't have a lot of toys right now, for one thing he doesn't care about them and secondly we just ordered from viovet, so I know there we be a lot of new stuff coming in soon ;-)
I actually don't think they take up much space. But that depends on how much wall space you have of course.

[pinkneon]

Awww to Romeo!! Sooo cute!!

[Hamsterita]

Well that's easy ;-)

Included one of Zeldas cage too :-)

Romeo doesn't have a lot of toys right now, for one thing he doesn't care about them and secondly we just ordered from viovet, so I know there we be a lot of new stuff coming in soon ;-)
I actually don't think they take up much space. But that depends on how much wall space you have of course.

They are so lucky!!They have really nice cages. Definitely I don't have enough room for something like that. All my wall space is occupied

I love zelda's set up.

[Juliebrei]

zelda has a good varied cage, because shes not picky :-P
romeo still hasnt figured out what is right in his cage, but hopefully something clicks with him from viovet.

I just noticed theres writing on the bag. confusing :-S

[Thin Lizzy]

Twinkle preferred being in her cage when I cleaned it and she would nudge my hand with her bum if I spent too long on a certain area. So cute watching Romeo in the video, he looked so happy and very fast.
Love his home.

[Juliebrei]

I must admit I feel a bit proud, when we take both our hamsters out for a treat and Romeo calmly and quietly eats his rollini on my arm. Meanwhile Zelda is busy bypassing her treat for a taste of my boyfriends hand, nibbling so hard that she hangs on when he lifts his hand. It's a little sad, but I'm a little proud of my good boy ;-)
Should be mentioned that she has a teenage phase, which is why she is misbehaving.

[Juliebrei]

Romeo is usually really picky when it comes to houses, which is why I am thrilled to see if is currently accepting a bendy bridge up against the glass, so we can actually see him in his house.

The reason why this has been important is because he tends to spend pretty much all his time in his house lately. Even when he is fully awake. He only comes out to pee and drink and occasionally to fill his stash.
Because of this it has been hard to figure out the right time to take him out to play, but now that I can see in his house, I can check if he is awake before I lift the bridge.

Lifting his house too much, in the past, has led to him simply moving out of his house as the only, and irreversible, warning sign.

But he seems to accepts it so far. It has even gotten to be so much of a routine that he seems to know, when I put him back down after playtime, that the house will come back in a minute. Instead of immediately going to his nest and start.searching for the top, he simply stands in front of where he knows it was, and as soon as I put it down he just wobbles in and lies down.

It's amazing! :-D

I took some pictures from the outside, but I didn't want to disturb him with the flash.

[Hamsterita]

Wow!

He looks so cute!! You're very lucky. I tried this with zero success, I put the bendy bridge against the glass and tons of toilet paper underneath waiting for Blacky to make his nest there because I was hoping to be able to stalk him in his dreams hahahahaa but for some reason every time he sees a bendy bridge he blocks the gap with all the hemp he can find. I ended up removing the bendy bridges because seriously, he seemed upset with them

[Juliebrei]

I put substrate over the bridge to begin with, maybe that would help? And I don't put toilet paper under the bridge, I put it in front of it so he can choose how much he wants ;-)

Also, I'll take a picture for you later, but I kind of don't use the entire bridge. I kind of bend a part of it away, so it is smaller and more cozy.

[Hamsterita]

Blacky has made an open nest and I can sneak peek in a different way, but it would be awesome to see more photos anyway. Maybe I can get some ideas for the future because I'm still making some adjustments to his set up, he only seems interested in his wheel and in the sand bath. Maybe I will try again with bendy bridges putting substrate over them as you said.

[Juliebrei]

Here are some pictures:-) I actually started against the opposite wall, so up against the wall first, and then at the next cage cleaning I sort of twisted the entire cage setup 180degrees so he is now facing outward.

[CMB]

If your hamster doesn't like to nest next to the glass. You could put a piece of card on the outside of the glass. With blue tac. It would make the nest darker and you could remove it to look in the nest then put it back.

[Juliebrei]

If your hamster doesn't like to nest next to the glass. You could put a piece of card on the outside of the glass. With blue tac. It would make the nest darker and you could remove it to look in the nest then put it back.

That's also a very good suggestion :-)

[Juliebrei]

I finally got a good shot of the back of his ears. Is it normal to have so little fur behind the ears? I know there is something about hamsters with lighter furs having very visible skin because of that, but you can't exactly call him light coloured…

[Hamsterita]

Noted all the ideas and suggestions!! I'll give them a try soon.

I think that his ears are perfectly fine. I'm not an expert but at least comparing them with what i've seen they look perfectly normal to me.

[Juliebrei]

It just seems like there is so much bare skin. I know it probably not anything serious, I'm just wondering if it's normal.
But if blacky has the same bald spot it must be pretty normal ;-)

[Thin Lizzy]

Those bendy bridges are brilliant, I know Harvey loves his. So sweet Romeo loves it.

[Juliebrei]

Merry Christmas and happy holidays from Romeo \\:D/

bTDuowMn6FA

[Juliebrei]

Romeo got a cage upgrade today…

Right now I just put everything in there, and maybe he will choose some favorites, maybe he will reject everything.
You never know with him.

We are though quite shaken up today. Pretty much everyone except Zelda.
In sheer ecstasy over all the new toys Romeo got so adventurous that he took a flying leap from my lap, over my hand and onto the floor! :shock:
And he fled under the couch. Fortunately he stayed there.

I, fortunately, know him very well by now, so when he started moving away from the corner and closer to the edge of the couch. I put a big cardboard box, turned on the side, on the spot where I predicted he would come out. I told my boyfriend to start moving out the couch and sure enough, in a panic of everything moving around him, he ran straight into the box.
His whiskers where all tangled in cobwebs and he was busy sneezing the dust out of his nose, but he seems fine other than that.
It didn't take long to get him back but, God, I was horrified!

And I will definitely keep an eye on him in the next days.

[Hamsterita]

Lovely video!!

And good luck with the new set up.

Am I seeing 4 biscrock boxes?? Wow they're spoil hahaha

[Juliebrei]

He he :-) it was a special offer on zoo plus I think. Buy 3 get 1 free or something, and we didn't have then and I was buying something else there anyway. It was worth the money ;-)

[Thin Lizzy]

Oh Romeo, he'll be fine, he would've gotten a fright but his mum rescued him.

[Juliebrei]

Romeo is ready for his bus ride Tomorrow to meet hos extended family 😀

0VfFqdWIugc

[Thin Lizzy]

Hope the journey went smoothly. There doesn't seem to be any pics to look at.

[Juliebrei]

After a long stressfull trip over Christmas Romeo decided he needed a good long nap, on my arm. And i loved every moment of it! \\:D/

http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/ah196/Julie_Refsager/IMG_20161226_231124_zpsyupphf7a.jpg (http://s1380.photobucket.com/user/Julie_Refsager/media/IMG_20161226_231124_zpsyupphf7a.jpg.html)
http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/ah196/Julie_Refsager/IMG_20161226_230827_zpsirr2spms.jpg (http://s1380.photobucket.com/user/Julie_Refsager/media/IMG_20161226_230827_zpsirr2spms.jpg.html)
http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/ah196/Julie_Refsager/IMG_20161226_232001_zpss2wffqzw.jpg (http://s1380.photobucket.com/user/Julie_Refsager/media/IMG_20161226_232001_zpss2wffqzw.jpg.html)
http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/ah196/Julie_Refsager/IMG_20161226_231340_zpsrl9evybz.jpg (http://s1380.photobucket.com/user/Julie_Refsager/media/IMG_20161226_231340_zpsrl9evybz.jpg.html)http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/ah196/Julie_Refsager/IMG_20161226_231805_zpsfwgdt3z3.jpg (http://s1380.photobucket.com/user/Julie_Refsager/media/IMG_20161226_231805_zpsfwgdt3z3.jpg.html)

[Hamsterita]

awwwwwwwww i'm dying right now. I can't stand so much cuteness. this photos are really sweet

[cypher]

That really is adorable & those little paws awwwww!

[Juliebrei]

He was absolutely adorable :-) i havent seen him do that before. He startede normally, crawling into the corner of my arm and dosing of. That happens all the time. But turning around like that is new. I hope he does it again though :-D

[Thin Lizzy]

Awwwwwww! That's so adorable, so heart melting! He's so content!

[Juliebrei]

I feel very lucky that i have such a sweet little boy :-D tried getting him to do it again yesterday, but he was way too wired... he was just not staying still for anything but the bestest food ;-)

[Thin Lizzy]

Wishing you & Romeo A Happy New Year!
Big hugs lizzy & Harvey xxx

[Penguin]

Oh gosh Juliebrei! Those pictures of Romeo sleeping! They make me want to run out and buy a thousand new furbabies!

[Juliebrei]

I'm concerned about him. he seems healthy, but he wighed in at 134 grams before the trip. after we came home we weighed him again and he was down to 128, we thought maybe he just needed to find himself after the trip, but now he's down to 125. i'm calling the vet tomorrow, we were planning on giving them a general health check anyways this month. I don't know how much weight is too much? he looks healthy, he eats and he poops and he is still running all night, but somethings not right..

[Thin Lizzy]

Hope Romeo's ok, it could be he found the journey stressful but, you're doing the right thing making an appointment with the vet. Got my fingers crossed.

[cypher]

That is worrying, hope he's ok & he gets back to normal soon.

[Hamsterita]

I hope Romeo is ok, tell us about the vet when he checks on him. And try to give him some extra fatty seeds in the meantime, maybe it would help him to gain some weight

[Juliebrei]

Waiting for the bus from the vets now. He checked him over thouroughly and found nothing wrong with him, but said that he had seen cases where a change of brand in his mix has worked. We have been instructed to weigh him every day and contact them in a week. If that doesnt work they will do further testing.

[cypher]

Do you think he may still be a little stressed after the trip? It can take a while for them to settle again after a change so fingers crossed he'll begin to eat well & gain weight again soon.

[Juliebrei]

That was my though to begin with, but the problem is that is eating and drinking and playing completely normal. His ears are always up and doesnt seem uncomfortable in anyway, but he is losing weight.

[cypher]

If everything else is fine then it's impossible to guess what might be going on isn't it, if he still eats ok I don't really see how the vets idea of changing brand might help, if he likes his current food it may even make things worse so I guess all you can do is keep a close eye on him, I really hope he does begin to gain some weight back soon, fingers crossed for him.

[Juliebrei]

Well, i was getting ready to change it anyway since the one he has currently only has plant protein in it and i finally found a place to buy burgess for syrians. I just have to figure out how to trick him into eating the meal worms.

[Hamsterita]

Maybe I'm saying something stupid but, Have you tried to give him fatty foods? As sunflowers seeds or nuts. I know that you have to give it to them with moderation, but if he's losing weight so fast maybe it's a good way to help him gain it faster too. I know that when I loose my hand with treats Blacky gains weight really fast, and maybe in this case is for the better. Obviously the ideal would be a healthy and proportionable diet, but if he likes them and as a desperate measure... I don't know, I would try it.

[Juliebrei]

I try giving him lots of sunflower seeds. He got some organic cheese around new years and generally i try to feed him a nut a week. Ive been trying to fatten him up for a while now. He is from july 1. So 134 is already really small and ever since i have realized that he is probably just barely going to climb into the adult figures i have been trying to fatten him up a bit. So the weight loss is happening even though i am already trying to fatten him up unfortunately :-( i have a sneaking suspiscion it might be protein related..

[Hamsterita]

OMG a nut a week, he's already eating good amounts of fatty foods for sure. Others hams would be like a football ball eating a nut a week. Poor Romeo.

Be careful with the protein intake, they need a good amount of protein to be healthy, but I have read that too much protein can cause kidney stones (or something like that) and other illness.

Good luck and keep us updated

[Juliebrei]

exactly..the vet said that if changing his mix doesn't work we are probably looking at a metabolic disease, which can be really hard to treat in hamsters. I hope he is wrong, but your reaction to his nut intake tells me that there is a good chance that that is what it is..

[AmityvilleHams]

I don't think one nut a week is a problem unless you're feeding something like a walnut or other very large nuts.

High protein is more of an issue in older hams than it is younger hams,so keep that in mind.The protein content of Harry Hamster would be perfect either way,but it depends on what you're already feeding on if it is too high with nuts added or completely fine :)

[Juliebrei]

No, its peanuts and hazel nuts mostly. I dont know if you read through the comments amity, but he is losing weight and we need him to gain weight quickly and hopefully without losing it again.

[AmityvilleHams]

Hmm,Harry Hamster again would have enough protein as a base.With Burgess,it is a bit lower in protein and because the protein sources could easily be replaced with better sources by adding to Harry Hamster it would not be quite as good.You could certainly still feed mealworms along with Harry Hamster,but from there add extras.

Harry Hamster already has peanuts in it,so the amount given from what amount you feed of it is fine for peanuts.You could add an extra(but different type)nut from there weekly,along with daily seed extras.

Harry Hamster unfortunately doesn't have the biggest seed variety(sunflower and pumpkin),but it can be a big bonus since you can add so much more extra seed and not have to worry about it being pointless if you may already have it in a mix.Burgess only has pumpkin seed,by the way :(

So,starting with a base of Harry Hamster,you could add on what has been mentioned along with freshwater shrimp,freeze dried chicken breast or boiled chicken breast,and other extras that are good for protein and healthy fats.

[Juliebrei]

So far, dried protein has been the bane of his existence. He actually runs if i offer it to him. I havent tried dried chicken though. What brands should i be looking for?
The burgess i have also has sunflower seeds in it.

[AmityvilleHams]

I know that Zooplus sell Dokas Chicken with Rice as dog/cat treats,and those are good.They also sell Thrive chicken which is a good option too.You could try to get chicken breasts and boil it yourself if he isn't interested in dried chicken,and as for mealworms you might be better off trying live.While it is kind of gross to think of feeding live insects,it might be the better choice for him,as long as you can get very small amounts of live mealworms.

Zooplus doesn't sell live mealworms though,but if you can find them through a reptile supply store of some sort that would work.

Burgess does list sunflower seeds after checking again,must've not seen it the first time!Still not as good as having whole chicken and the mealworms would be dried plus Syrians might not eat mealworms.Mealworms are usually more of a dwarf hamster food,but still worth trying live if you can get them reasonably priced before giving up completely :)

[cypher]

Some hams just don't like mealworms or other insects so chicken is worth a try (although I do have a ham who's scared of chicken so you never know!) I've used the dokas (http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/dogs/dog_treats_chews/soft_treats/dokas/138876) one & the Tigeria (http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/cats/cat_treats_catnip/tigeria_cat_snacks/tigeria_sticklettis/247232) from zooplus both of which are good.

Have you tried him with plain tofu? All my hams love it & it's another good way of adding a complete protein without giving lots more fat which he doesn't really need by the sound of things.

I really hope it doesn't turn out to be a metabolic problem, fingers crossed.

[Juliebrei]

a happy update; I got him to eat some porridge with ground up mealworms yesterday. somewhere between 5 and 10 worms and he is pretty much switched to burgess now and has weighed in at 126 grams today :-) that's process! don't know if it's the protein or the change of mix and I honestly don't care right now :D
1 gram might not be enormous amounts, but it is process :-)

and I will have a look in the local petstore to see if they have any of those brands with dried chicken :-)

[Thin Lizzy]

Good to hear Romeo has gained a little weight, I find baby food helps get the weight back on. I've always given it to my hand when they've been unwell.

[Juliebrei]

I light try the baby food, thats a good idea :-) he was still 126 yesterday, but as long as it doesnt go down at least. i have bought some trixie dried chicken filets, is that okay? It was the only brand i could find locally. Will ordet something better if he actually likes it.

[AmityvilleHams]

The ones I'm seeing from Zooplus have salt and an unspecified fish,so I would say they're not that great and would not be worth using plus they have glycerin which isn't the best thing to have but it could be much worse.

Actual freeze dried chicken along with other treats would have a very different texture to those,so it isn't the best comparison.

[Juliebrei]

I dont see the ones i bought in the store on zooplus. They are whole filets and there is only glycerin and potato starch in them, aside from chicken.

[AmityvilleHams]

Zooplus can be a bit annoying with the fairly limited range of items at times,from what I've seen.They sound pretty good,definitely better than a lot of treats.

[Juliebrei]

He ate a good amount of dried chicken yesterday and weighed in at 127 in the evening. Thats a trend of 1 g. Every second day. That sounds okay to me, but he has a cage clean coming in the next few days. Hopefully the trend continues.

In all the madness of romeos weightloss I totally forgot I took a picture of romeo enjoying his new years treat.
http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/ah196/Julie_Refsager/IMG_20170101_004533_zpsicexxphu.jpg (http://s1380.photobucket.com/user/Julie_Refsager/media/IMG_20170101_004533_zpsicexxphu.jpg.html)

[Thin Lizzy]

Onwards and upwards with Romeo's weight gain, he's making progress! When it comes to his cage clean just be sure to keep back some substrate & bedding to mix in with the new.

[Hamsterita]

I'm glad that he's gaining some weight. I hope he keeps this way!

[Juliebrei]

I'm worried.. I am very worried!
on top of the weight loss I found this today. can anyone help ease my mind or at least explain what it might be?
http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/ah196/Julie_Refsager/IMG_20170110_193408_zps1gzkxejs.jpg (http://s1380.photobucket.com/user/Julie_Refsager/media/IMG_20170110_193408_zps1gzkxejs.jpg.html)
http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/ah196/Julie_Refsager/IMG_20170110_193528_zpsh6wwnjed.jpg (http://s1380.photobucket.com/user/Julie_Refsager/media/IMG_20170110_193528_zpsh6wwnjed.jpg.html)
http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/ah196/Julie_Refsager/IMG_20170110_193541_zpsfnj0kvw9.jpg (http://s1380.photobucket.com/user/Julie_Refsager/media/IMG_20170110_193541_zpsfnj0kvw9.jpg.html)
http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/ah196/Julie_Refsager/IMG_20170110_194605_zpsceb8bcrm.jpg (http://s1380.photobucket.com/user/Julie_Refsager/media/IMG_20170110_194605_zpsceb8bcrm.jpg.html)
I couldn't get a picture of it put i found one with scab on as well. He did not like when I touched that :-(

[Hamsterita]

I'm not an expert, but to me it looks like one of his scent glands. Check If he has another one like that in the opposite side. Usually they have more hair covering them, but I've seen some hamsters without hair over them, so maybe it's normal.

I can't see very well the photos, because they are a little bit blurry, but you can compare your issue with this photos
https://www.google.es/search?q=hamster+scent+glands&safe=off&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiW4rSRpLjRAhVBlhQKHXzVB-QQ_AUICCgB&biw=1438&bih=696

don't worry too much, and let's wait for the answer of someone with more experience than me.

[Juliebrei]

they just seemed asymetrical to me, but the black ones could be his scent glands, yes. don't thiink they have been showing since he was a baby, but the thing that concerns me the most is the scab that he wouldnt let me get a picture of.

[Hamsterita]

Scents glands aren't flat, but I've never touch one, so I don't know if they're like scabs. If you're really worried maybe you should open a new thread, because some people don't read these about particular hamsters.

But as I said before, don't worry too much.

If it bleeds, or have discharges, or several colors you should go tot the vet. If they are two wrinkled black dots at each side of his back I will bet that they are regular scent glands.

[Juliebrei]

it is a third place that has a scab. it is not the scent glands, that is what really has me worried. I might try and make a separate thread.

[Thin Lizzy]

It could be he's caught himself on something in his cage and it's bled and scabbed over.

[Hamsterita]

Hey! How's romeo doing? Is he gaining more weight? Could you find out what were those dots?

[Juliebrei]

I'm pretty sure his scent glands are just oversized.
I really don't know what to think about the weight. It is not going up, but it's not really going down either. I'm going to try cutting back on the treats and see if it starts going down. If it does, something is still wrong, if not, that is just his size then.
He is happy and interactive, his ears are pretty much always up. He is my own little Mickey Mouse, so it doesn't seem like he is suffering in any way.
I took this picture the other day, trying to get a Better look at something on his lower parts, and he decided his Facebook needed to be in the picture too. I think it's adorable :-)
http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/ah196/Julie_Refsager/received_10154285525669071_zpsof0ljodz.jpeg (http://s1380.photobucket.com/user/Julie_Refsager/media/received_10154285525669071_zpsof0ljodz.jpeg.html)

[Hamsterita]

Well, I think that if you give him less treats it would be logical to expect a weight loss. I don't know about hamsters but If I eat less sweets and fried food and those kind of things I loose weight.

He's really cute and tiny, he looks like a baby syrian.

[Juliebrei]

Yeah, he is my little baby ;-)
You don't really loose weight though to a dangerous weight just by not eating candy ;-)
Don't know if it makes sense? If this is just his normal, healthy weight he won't loose anything noticeable.

[Juliebrei]

Romeo was in a very curious mood today, and even decided to pose a bit for pictures.

I also realized that it has been a while since i've handfed him his mix. his reaction had me puzzled. usually he is very picky, but when he was done there was practically only the little dark pellets left on my hand.
that got me thinking, could he actually be loosing weight because his house and his food are at opposite ends of the cage and he has some problem with that? I took his bowl, filled it a bit and put it next to his house and he kept going! his cheeks lokked like they were ready to explode!!
He usually doesn't really stash things.
http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/ah196/Julie_Refsager/16145660_10154298157504071_999610049_o_zps3nmg17vf .jpg (http://s1380.photobucket.com/user/Julie_Refsager/media/16145660_10154298157504071_999610049_o_zps3nmg17vf .jpg.html)
http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/ah196/Julie_Refsager/16129534_10154298157274071_752429826_o_zpsdvyvdara .jpg (http://s1380.photobucket.com/user/Julie_Refsager/media/16129534_10154298157274071_752429826_o_zpsdvyvdara .jpg.html)
http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/ah196/Julie_Refsager/16106372_10154298156889071_763268629_o_zps9mh89jm8 .jpg (http://s1380.photobucket.com/user/Julie_Refsager/media/16106372_10154298156889071_763268629_o_zps9mh89jm8 .jpg.html)
http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/ah196/Julie_Refsager/16129506_10154298155639071_1426670917_o_zpsjvneqrt c.jpg (http://s1380.photobucket.com/user/Julie_Refsager/media/16129506_10154298155639071_1426670917_o_zpsjvneqrt c.jpg.html)
http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/ah196/Julie_Refsager/16121979_10154298155274071_398243528_o_zps9yyvh4l8 .jpg (http://s1380.photobucket.com/user/Julie_Refsager/media/16121979_10154298155274071_398243528_o_zps9yyvh4l8 .jpg.html)
http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/ah196/Julie_Refsager/16145351_10154298155919071_1422329250_o_zpsoagpbw8 2.jpg (http://s1380.photobucket.com/user/Julie_Refsager/media/16145351_10154298155919071_1422329250_o_zpsoagpbw8 2.jpg.html)

[Hamsterita]

He's very cute!! If that's the problem he's a very lazy boy hahahaha

[Thin Lizzy]

Such an adorable face!

[Juliebrei]

I'm sorry to say, but apparently Romeo is a lazy lazy boy...
he has been gaining 1 gram a day! since i moved his food and water next to his house. I have actually been considering wether his cage might be a little too big for him, since he is such a timid little boy.

[Juliebrei]

I was planning on doing a cutest pictures upload a few days ago, but as usual Romeo had to scare me half to death. Poop soft enough to rub of on his tissue paper and some kind of dried up fur to the left og his tail. Also, something didn't look quite right around his testicles.

On top of that i have now been sick for 2 weeks. I visited my familie for a week, came home sick, and it has now been 3 weeks total that i have had minimal contact with both Romeo and zelda! It's driving med crazy ](*,)
At least the doctor says it's just a virus, so i can carefully start to interact with them again now.

Romeos poop has hardened again and his tail look perfectly clean today. As for the testicles, apparently the little man has started sprouting some serious hairgrowth on them lately, that's what i couldn't quite put my finger on.

Now for the cutest pics:
He decided to take a nap out of the cage the other day. It has been a Long time since he did that last.
http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/ah196/Julie_Refsager/received_10154487502954071_zpsvorewere.jpeg (http://s1380.photobucket.com/user/Julie_Refsager/media/received_10154487502954071_zpsvorewere.jpeg.html)
http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/ah196/Julie_Refsager/received_10154487503079071_zpspbckuarh.jpeg (http://s1380.photobucket.com/user/Julie_Refsager/media/received_10154487503079071_zpspbckuarh.jpeg.html)
http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/ah196/Julie_Refsager/received_10154487502899071_zpselhwyshx.jpeg (http://s1380.photobucket.com/user/Julie_Refsager/media/received_10154487502899071_zpselhwyshx.jpeg.html)
http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/ah196/Julie_Refsager/received_10154487502709071_zpsdlidgx4s.jpeg (http://s1380.photobucket.com/user/Julie_Refsager/media/received_10154487502709071_zpsdlidgx4s.jpeg.html)
http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/ah196/Julie_Refsager/received_10154487502594071_zpsqmrq1zdw.jpeg (http://s1380.photobucket.com/user/Julie_Refsager/media/received_10154487502594071_zpsqmrq1zdw.jpeg.html)
And then he actually took a full nap
http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/ah196/Julie_Refsager/received_10154487502509071_zps1tdlws59.jpeg (http://s1380.photobucket.com/user/Julie_Refsager/media/received_10154487502509071_zps1tdlws59.jpeg.html)

[BorisPasha]

Awww lovely to see Romeo again, he still looks so cute and tiny :) Sorry to hear you've been unwell and Romeo gave you a scare. Hope you're feeling better soon Julie

[Hamsterita]

I agree with BP, he's a lovely little boy, he still looks like a tiny baby <3

I hope you get better soon

[Thin Lizzy]

Eek! That gorgeous little cheeky face brings a smile to my face.
Sorry to hear you've been ill. Typical, you go away for a week feeling fine and you'd think the break will do you good, only to come back worse off. Hope you're better soon xx

[Juliebrei]

Soooo... This is why there are way more videos of zelda than of Romeo.

RvzejaGaGPo
https://youtu.be/RvzejaGaGPo

Every time i turn the light on, in any form, he does his "you don't se me, i'm not here!" Walk to his igloo.

Every time!

[Hamsterita]

1 minute and 40 seconds... I consider that roaming around for a while after disappearing again :mad:. It must be a black-hamsters-illness, maybe you, BP and me should found a club of care less hamsters or something ;)

He's as lovely as usual. His fur looks really shinny and nice.

[BorisPasha]

Lol indeed Hamsterita, I was thinking the same after watching the video of Romeo. Poor Jaska, Blacky and Romeo lol afflicted by the shy disease :P

He does look lovely though Julie even if he is shy :)

[Hamsterita]

Lol indeed Hamsterita, I was thinking the same after watching the video of Romeo.

Did you see that he even stopped to have a drink and grab a bite?? He took his time to return to his igloo!! :mad::mad::mad::mad:

Damn black hamster's shy disease](*,)](*,)](*,)](*,)](*,)

[Juliebrei]

He did of course take his time when i try to document it](*,)
He did take unusually long in the video.
I didn't know he wasn't the only one :mad:

[Thin Lizzy]

Aww Romeo, so good to see him for that short time, he's got such a shiny beautiful coat. His shyness only makes me adore him more.

[Juliebrei]

Romeo has recently found a newfound confidence. we have found that he actually likes running around under a blancket. so we put a blancket over us when we take him out and he will keep himself entertained between us and the blancket for as long as we let him. there is however an unforseen drawback to this newfound confidence. He is biting!
he is not being mean or anything. my guess is that nuzzling around under there he can't separate human and couch/blancket. so he will try to get in to what he thinks is a crack in the sofa and when the "human side" doesn't behave like the couch side he takes a bite. this is becoming a habbit, and not something that we want to encourage him to do, but on the other hand the blancket is really getting him out of his shell.
how do we balance it?

[Hamsterita]

Have you thought that he may be afraid? Maybe he's so hyper not because he's confident but because he's trying to scape at all costs. But I don't know... if he's ok try to "punish him" or make "positive reinforcement" depending on how he reacts... if he bites you could put him back in his cage, and if he doesn't do it then you could give him a treat... apart from that I can't think of any more suggestions to be honest.

[AmityvilleHams]

Actually putting a hamster back in their cage after they bite you would reinforce bad behavior,in a way,since it allows them to escape therefore creating a connection between biting(bad behavior)and being rewarded in a way through not having to be held.

A firm no works just fine in my experience,or simply keeping hands out of reach when possible!

[cypher]

The biting suggest he may still be scared to me too, he should easily be able to sense what's human & what's not, maybe let him just run around under the blanket somewhere safe without actual contact for a while to see if he gains confidence then try again & see if he still bites.

I haven't found putting them back in the cage & waiting a short while before interacting again if they bite to reinforce negative behaviour at all tbh, I think the main thing with biting is to think like a ham & try to figure out why they do it then work with them to try to resolve the problem.

[Thin Lizzy]

It does sound as though he may be scared, I would let him explore the blanket himself without you in a sealed off area.

[Juliebrei]

We have spread the blanket out in the playpen, and it seems to actually make him more comfortable in the playpen.
The biting didn't actually occur under the blanket. It was a specific place he kept trying to get in to and only when aggie was holding him. I already thought he tends to let that situation get a little out of hand. I don't know why Romeo bites when he gets to that point, but aggie has been instructed to stop letting him near that place.

[cypher]

If he's a bit nervous out of the cage I can understand him feeling more comfortable under the blanket, good that he's enjoying it!

[Juliebrei]

He is always nervous to be honest. That's​ just his Nature.. his feet vibrates constantly. I have become accustomed to judging his comfortable levels by his ears. As long as they are up and alert it is just his usual nervousness. If they don't stand straight i know he is uncomfortable ;-)

[Thin Lizzy]

I do love reading about Romeo, glad he's liking his blanket.

[Hamsterita]

I'm glad that the problem is solved!

[Juliebrei]

Romeo made me laugh so hard today. I have store throat and can't be near them, so i asked my boyfriend to have a serious talk with him about personal hygene.
He litterally sat down with Romeo and told him "you don't put food in the toilet!". Then comes the aftermath! About 15 minutes later i see Romeo head for his wheel quite determined. His wheel is at the opposite end of the cage, where he proceeded to pee behind it and defiantly sit in front of it and take his time cleaning himself afterwards. He then ran just as determined back to his toilet and there proceeded to try and dig everything out of it!

Don't ever think your hamster doesn't understand you!

Romeo is very clearly still a teenager!!! ;-)

[Juliebrei]

I feel so bad! It's like he is running around searching for me :-(

CDTKu7QJqkE

I'm coming! Once the penicillin is done :-(

[BorisPasha]

Awww poor Romeo lol. He's looking good though, his coat is nice and glossy. He's a cutie :)

Hope you feel better soon Julie

[Juliebrei]

Awww poor Romeo lol. He's looking good though, his coat is nice and glossy. He's a cutie :)

Hope you feel better soon Julie

Thank you :-) the penicillin is working very well, so it won't be long ;-)

He has been getting up really early lately and just roamed around the cage. That's a very different behaviour than we are used to. It's really nice seeing him around dinnertime instead of around midnight :-D

[AprilPearl]

Ooh he's a lovely boy, such a shiny coat!!

As I watched the video I had a mental image of him saying "Julie, Julie, where art thou Julie?" (Though of course "where art thou" actually means "why are you", but we won't split hairs about that).

Get well soon :) not long now, Romeo!

[Burakki]

Romeo is such a funny little cutie! It's so sweet how hammies miss us when we're not there to tend to their every wish! :-D Hope you'll get well soon!

[Juliebrei]

For those who hasn't seen the thread on it, we discovered yesterday that Romeo was seriously dehydrated and weighed just 115 grams! His new waterbottle was apparently fault and because of my sore throat i hasn't been able to handle him so couldn't feel his weightloss. The dehydrated was most likely why his behaviour was so atypical. (getting up early and going around the cage searching)
He drank for ten minutes when we finally got him water and has emptied his entire foodbowl through the day. He is sleeping in today and coping with the checkups by taking long, safe, comforting naps om mommy ;-)

We are weighing him tonight to be sure, but the morning weighing says 120 grams thankfully :-)

[Thin Lizzy]

I did laugh at you getting your boyfriend to have a serious talk with Romeo, I can just imagine the look on his face being told off lol!
Glad you spotted the faulty water bottle, I'm sure Romeo will enjoy the extra fuss.
Hope you're feeling better.

[AprilPearl]

I saw your thread about the water bottle! I'd be furious if that happened to me, too. Maybe you could write a complaint letter to the manufacturers? Anyway, it must be such a relief that Romeo is ok.

[Juliebrei]

He is doing so great! He has gained 10 grams in 2 days. That just confirms how dehydrated he was.
I cleaned his cage today. It's been way too long. It was already time for cleaning before i got sick and i didn't want to stress him just after his dehydration.

I might look in to writing the company, but i doubt they will care, sadly :-(

[AprilPearl]

So glad he is recovering well! I agree that the company will probably just fob you off with some generic bullsh*t (pardon my French) but maybe if it happened to multiple bottles and they get a lot of complaints they might do something.

[Burakki]

It's so unfair how bad manufacturers or pet shops hurt innocent pets and good owners, who just couldn't know. When I had a pet lizard, I was sold a used UV lamp, which didn't have the needed effect anymore but looked the same. I realized the problem when my lizard's bones actually melted from the lack of UV.
But I'm really glad that Romeo is doing better and is putting on weight!

[Juliebrei]

Romeo has gotten a neighbor recently and has been very curious about that "thing" behind the glass.
3hYljE3g8Lk

He also seemed a little more stuffy nosed today than usual. I recently got an aromatherapy lamp and some thyme oil. I burned a few drops in the lamp and tonight he seems perfectly normal.

Do any of you have any experience with aromatherapy and hamsters? I would really like to learn more about it.

[BorisPasha]

I don't have any experience with it but I think it's something you need to be very careful with as the smell can be quite overpowering for them.